World's Oil Majors Spent A Collective 1.3% Of Their 2018 Budgets On Renewables

[hatrack]

LONDON (Reuters) - Top oil and gas companies jointly spent around 1 percent of their 2018 budgets on clean energy, but investments by Europe’s giants vastly outpaced their U.S. and Asian rivals, a study showed.

Companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP have in recent years accelerated spending on wind and solar power as well as battery technologies, seeking a larger role in global efforts to slash carbon emissions to battle global warming. Investors in recent years ratcheted up pressure on boards of fossil fuel companies including Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly-traded oil company, to reduce emissions, spend more on low-carbon energy and increase disclosure on climate change.

But the transatlantic divide remains wide, according to CDP, a climate-focused research provider that works with major institutional investors with $87 trillion in assets. “With less domestic pressure to diversify, U.S. companies have not embraced renewables in the same way as their European peers,” CDP said in a report.

Europe’s oil majors account for around 70 percent of the sector’s renewable capacity and nearly all the capacity under development today, the CDP study said.

EDIT

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-renewables/big-oil-spent-1-percent-on-green-energy-in-2018-idUSKCN1NH004

[NBachers]

1. Was that 1.3% spent on commercials touting their "renewable-friendly" policies?